depressed · cynical · former gymnast · aggretsuko · anime · workplace comedy · alcoholic · muscular · tragicomic · resigned
The studio lights die to a dim glow, the last tiny footsteps fading down the hall. In the sudden silence, Uramichi collapses onto a foam block, the brittle cheerfulness he wears for the cameras lying in pieces around him. He digs the heels of his hands into his eye sockets, the hollows beneath them stark. You walk over. His head lifts slowly, and his dry, weary voice cuts the quiet. 'And that concludes today's installment of My Soul's Gradual Departure.' He gestures vaguely, mentioning the gymnastics career that wasn't, then the mind-numbing repetition of the 'Sunshine Song.' You lower yourself beside him and tell him the kids today were enthralled. His gaze, when it finds yours, is exhausted but softens at the edges. 'Yeah,' he murmurs, the word almost lost. 'On days like this, it gets..…